Corey Wry Makes It A Trifecta With CW's Chops 'N' Catch

A LA CARTE

Third Restaurant In Manchester Features Steaks And Seafood

January 20, 2011|By LEEANNE GRIFFIN, Special to the Courant, The Hartford Courant

Corey Wry knows Manchester. He was born and raised there, graduated from Manchester High School in 1995 and returned 10 years later to open his first restaurant. Nearly six years later, as he debuts his third eponymous eatery in town, it's safe to say Manchester knows him, too.

CW's Chops 'n' Catch on Hartford Road joins Pastrami on Wry on East Middle Turnpike and Corey's Catsup and Mustard on Main Street. While his first two restaurants focus on casual fare like deli sandwiches and burgers, Chops 'n' Catch is a more upscale spot that delves into steaks and seafood.

Wry, a classically trained chef, said this new format was a way for him to better use the skills he learned during his culinary education at Johnson & Wales University in Providence. Before opening Pastrami on Wry in 2005, he traveled and worked throughout the country.

"I would consider [Chops 'n' Catch] a little more upscale than what I've done thus far," he said. "I chose to do it because I wanted to use my cooking resources a little bit more. And I wanted to do it now while I was still young enough."

Chops 'n' Catch stays true to its name, with plenty of surf-and-turf selections. On the seafood side, there's a raw bar with shrimp cocktail, East Coast oysters and tuna tartare. Fresh-catch options include organic farmed salmon, New England cod and swordfish. A baked haddock dish with crab stuffing pays homage to the building's former tenant, the popular Italian restaurant Nulli's.

Steaks range from a 7-ounce filet mignon to a 36-ounce porterhouse for two people, with Kansas City strip and ribeye in between. All are seasoned with a custom spice blend and broiled at 1,200 degrees. The "Willie's Sizzling Sirloin" dish, made with hip steak, honors another former Manchester institution.

There also are unusual appetizers (bacon n' eggs, lobster cakes, blue-cheese potato chips), fresh salads and signature entrees like spinach- and cheddar-stuffed chicken (a deconstructed version of Wry's mother's recipe) and a chipotle-lime pork tenderloin. Beef short ribs braised in Dr. Pepper soda have quickly become a favorite, Wry said.

"The name says it all: a local place for steak, fish and comfort," Wry said. "That's exactly what it is. Comfort foods that everyone's familiar with … some things that are more traditional, some things with a few twists."

Wry is also making concerted efforts to use local products. A green Connecticut-shaped icon next to menu items denotes a local ingredient: such as bacon from Nodine's Smokehouse in Torrington, Janik kielbasa from Enfield, Lebanon's Beltane Farms goat cheese, Stonington scallops, mussels steamed in Olde Burnside's Ten Penny Ale. Ten Penny also shows up at the bar, along with bottled sodas from Hosmer Mountain and wines from Pomfret's Sharpe Hill and North Stonington's Jonathan Edwards Vineyards. Wry expects to change the menu seasonally, featuring more local produce in the spring and summer.

Customers from Pastrami on Wry and Catsup and Mustard have been excited about the new spot, Wry said. "I've got a good following, from that standpoint," he said.

While the menu and atmosphere at Chops 'n' Catch is a bit fancier than those eateries, Wry said he wouldn't necessarily classify it as "fine dining."

"I'm hoping [this will fill a niche] in the Manchester market. …Viewing it from the other side, as a diner…I don't think of it as gourmet or upscale, just casual American dining," he said.

"A lot of consumers that I deal with now appreciate something that's not a chain restaurant. It goes back to my concept of doing things locally, if possible, while covering a variety of foods that people are familiar with and are affordable."

In the near future, CW's Chops 'n' Catch will offer a happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m., with food and drink specials, along with a Sunday prime rib special. The restaurant also has a banquet facility to accommodate larger parties.

Asked if he thinks he's brought something exciting to Manchester, Wry smiles. "I'd like to think so, but I never really thought of it like that," he said. "I just try to go to work every day and keep people happy."

CW's Chops 'n' Catch is at 706 Hartford Road in Manchester. It's open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 4 to 9:30 p.m.; Thursdays from 4 to 10 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 4 to 10:30 p.m.; and Sundays from noon to 9 p.m. Information: 860-783-5545 or chopsandcatch.com.

Small Bites

The biannual Taste of Hartford restaurant promotion continues through Sunday. Presented by the Greater Hartford Arts Council and the Hartford Advocate, the event features $20.11 multi-course prix-fixe dinner menus at more than 20 city restaurants. For a list of participating eateries and their special menus, visit letsgoarts.org.